When a happy family man takes his teenage daughter to a sold out concert of a female pop singer, the excitement is simmering throughout the giant indoor arena. Plot twist; the happy father secretly learns the entire concert is a ruse to catch a serial killer who's somewhere in the arena attending the concert. Another plot twist; our protagonist family man IS the serial killer the FBI is trying to catch! In a tense game of cunning elusion, the serial killer tries to find a way to escape the arena without drawing attention from the security officers and with making his daughter suspicious.
This premise starts the film, Trap with a lot of promise and psychological complexity reminiscent of Hitchcockian drama in classics like Rope (1948) and Strangers on a Train (1951). Another plot twist; the serial killer's agitated getaway takes him (and his daughter) to a backstage dressing room, to a limousine, to his living room sofa as the stakes for his vicious survival get higher and higher.
Now comes the next plot twist; this film is atrocious. Yes, it's packed with surprises. But they're all written on a 5th grade reading level, so the seriousness and suspense remain far from any intended success. Director and writer M. Night Shyamalan (Old, 2021) has apparently thrown any sense of maturity, emotional depth, and realism into the dumpster. So much of this film is improbable, but it's shown like it's a logistical heist drama or detective procedural.
The murderous protagonist eavesdrops on other people's conversations while in a crowded building full of teenage girls. That's not realistic! During the concert, this man talks to a staff member, convincing the pop singer's team to bring his daughter onto the concert stage at the last minute. That's not realistic. Leading man Josh Hartnett (Wrath of Man, 2021) evades capture so many times, because he changes clothes and disguises with the speed of a cartoon character. That's not realistic!
I'm sorry, but what is M. Night Shyamalan doing to create these bad films?! I'm referring to Trap as well as Old (2021), Glass (2019), Split (2016), After Earth (2013), and The Happening (2008). Is he swallowing 10 Benadryl before he sits down to write these screenplays? Does he have an unwritten goal to include as many ideas as possible into one improbable story? Is Trap supposed to be a tense thriller or a dark comedy? After watching the one hour and 45 minutes of this film, I gave up caring about my answer.
All the acting appears so shallow, I didn't care what happened to anyone in this film. Supporting actress Alison Pill (Hello Tomorrow! 2023) gives the most convincing effort playing a happy/frightened housewife. But her small role is not enough to help Trap elevate a viewer's experience from its monotonous dialogue. The director's 28-year-old daughter Saleka Shyamalan plays the pop singer in this film, so that's obviously part of the director's motivation. But I'm at a loss for any other reasons why this film was even made. Plot twist; M. Night Shyamalan's films are not getting better.
